Primarily, so that I am more keyed into the real estate ecosystem of agents, escrow/title reps, mortgage lenders, access to MLS etc... 

Now that I'm finally back in the U.S. and making a healthier income, I feel the time to start is getting near!  

Healthier and much faster than going out to eat somewhere and it leaves me some time to do the following:A.

As others have responded, real estate benefits from healthier margins than other investment or business models.

They can bring in equity which will be more expensive to you but is a much healthier structure based on the deal.

When someone claims they know for certain that global warming is real (or not real), I take that to mean that they don't appreciate the complexity of the scientific method and the difficulty in evaluating the changes to a complex ecosystem.

What it sadly seems though is that someone is trying to let this accident turn into as big a crisis as possible at the cost of the ecosystem.

As long as there is equity in the property this is a way to get a healthier return on your investment.

Take your time.If the triplex listing expired, that means there is an opportunity to negotiate a much healthier sales price.

@Darrin Carey touched on a great point that I wanted to make: Getting your Real Estate License will not necessarily make you a better/smarter/faster/cheaper investor - the two skill sets are completely different.As an agent, you'll learn the concept of agency (representing the interests of another party in a transaction) and the associated laws in your state, and you'll learn the inner workings of the "closed ecosystem" that is the MLS.